To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
Written with exponents:
290,331 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 10,753 = 33 × 10,753
290,331 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,250,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 24 × 32 × 56
2,250,000 is a composite number.
290,331/2,250,000 =
(290,331 ÷ 9) / (2,250,000 ÷ 9) =
32,259/250,000
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
290,331/2,250,000 =
(33 × 10,753)/(24 × 32 × 56) =
((33 × 10,753) ÷ 32) / ((24 × 32 × 56) ÷ 32) =
(3 × 10,753)/(24 × 56) =
32,259/250,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
32,259/250,000 =
32,259 ÷ 250,000 =
0.129036 ≈
0.13